People moves

Growth all round at Deloitte & Touche

In line with growth of 57 per cent on revenues of GBP63.8 million in 1999/2000, Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance has also expanded its team. Currently, the firm has 249 technical staff and 39 partners, five of which were newly appointed in June. There are plans to expand the practice by at least 40 people across all levels. The appointment of 20 new directors has also been announced, recruiting from industry, venture capital houses and other financial institutions.

Of the 20 new directors, nine are based in the London office. Ian Astley leads the firm’s mid market corporate finance team, focusing on deals up to GBP20 million. He has specialised in private equity since joining the company in 1994.

Guy Davies joined Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance in 1996 from HSBC Private Equity. He is currently seconded as a managing director to Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance GmbH in Germany, focusing on advising private equity firms and management teams.

Archie Fraser qualified as a solicitor with Slaughter & May before moving to Kleinwort Benson. He joined Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance in 1999 and specialises in advising public companies.

Ross James has been at the company since 1991 and has spent two years in the Paris office. He is now responsible for a wide variety of transaction services assignments, with an emphasis on cross-border, particularly Anglo-French transactions.

Duncan Johnston joined the firm last year in transaction services. He has significant experience of private equity and corporate transaction in Germany for UK-based buyers. Andrew Jones has been with the company for nine years and specialises in valuations and strategic advice.

Navin Kaul came from BDO Stoy Hayward two years ago where he specialised in cross-border transactions involving businesses in the US, Canada, Italy and France. Andrew Payne spent a year and a half seconded to the UK Listing Authority before it was separated from the London Stock Exchange. He specialises in lead adviser and listed company transactions.

Finally, Jason Richards joined from KPMG in 1998 and specialises in UK and US private equity transactions in the UK and Europe.

This month also sees the appointment of Anthony Blaiklock and Malcolm Drysdale as partners at Deloitte & Touche. Previously a director at HSBC investment bank, Anthony Blaiklock will join the corporate finance advisory group in London. He has worked in investment banking for 17 years and was trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte & Touche (then Touche Ross) and moved to Samuel Montagu (now HSBC), a year after qualifying. Malcolm Drysdale is joining the European Transaction Services team and will be based in the Frankfurt office. He joins from Pricewater-houseCoopers where he worked for 13 years, including eight years in transaction services.

PwC appoints lead partners

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced the appointment of two lead partners to its North West and Midlands corporate finance businesses. David Armfield is lead partner of the division in the Midlands. He joined PwC from Lehman Brothers in January 2000. At Lehmans, he was responsible for the European Industrial group, with a particular focus on cross border transactions. At PwC, he will concentrate on public company advisory work for Midlands-based corporate clients and UK industrial product clients.

Colin Gillespie has been appointed lead partner of the corporate finance business in the North West. He joined the company two years ago from Credit Suisse First Boston and during that time he has led 17 completed corporate finance transactions with a combined value of over GBP600 million.

Ideas Hub adds to team

UK-based Ideas Hub, the e-business accelerator has announced three new

strategic appointments. Jonathan Peterson has been appointed chief technology officer and joins from COLT Internet. He will work with portfolio companies, providing them with guidance on technical aspects of their business. Kirsten Edmondson has joined the company as director of strategic partnerships. She was formerly co-founder and director of strategic partnerships at eSouk.com, which bowed out of this market in the summer. In her current position, she will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with strategic partners for both Ideas Hub as well as for its portfolio companies. Jix Patel is also joining the team as financial controller from the European Children’s Trust.

IdeasHub launched in September last year and since then it has made six investments.

GorillaPark targets French market

Internet business accelerator GorillaPark, which recently announced the completion of its $40 million second round of funding (see this issue, page 8), has entered the French market with the launch of its Paris operation. This follows the official opening of the incubator’s London offices earlier last month. The GorillaPark Paris infrastructure is being designed to help nurture French start-ups and to support the expansion of the accelerator’s other portfolio companies into France. The company will soon begin a major recruitment drive for visionary Internet entrepreneurs to join the accelerator and experienced, talented executives to become members of the GorillaPark team.

Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi, a former US venture capitalist, will lead the team and development activities of the Paris-based operation. Rodocanachi was previously an associate with Zilkha Capital Partners, an early- and later-stage venture capital fund, based in New York and Palo Alto. Prior to that, he was on Salomon Smith Barney’s Investment Banking team on Wall Street, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions and IPO assignments.

LongAcre Partners appoints COO

Following its launch this summer by Olswang, the international law firm specialising in media, telecoms and IT transactions (see EVCJ July/August 2000, p6), LongAcre Partners, the independent corporate finance house, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Goodwin as chief operating officer. Goodwin joins from the Wireless Group where he was group managing director formulating company strategy, managing the group’s growth and dealing with all aspects of fund raising, including its IPO. Experience gained at Apax Partners and Coopers & Lybrand also contributes to his knowledge of corporate finance, debt and private equity.

LongAcre Partners specialises in technology, media and communications advisory work and serves both start-up businesses and established offline enterprises looking at opportunities in the new economy. The new body has brought together a team of professionals from Olswang, JP Morgan, Corsair, Credit Suisee First Boston and UBS Warburg, targeting clients in the technology, media and communications sectors.

Northern Venture Managers goes south

Northern Venture Managers (NVM), acquired in June by Edinburgh Fund Managers (see EVCJ July/August 2000, p8), is expanding in the south of England. NVM has opened new offices in Reading and is building a full investment team in the south. The Reading office will initially employ two investment professionals and two support staff. There are also plans to recruit additional investment managers in the future. Tim Levett, NVM’s senior investment manager, will relocate to head the new operation in Reading. He is joined by Martin Wright, who has been spearheading NVM’s expansion into the south from a Southampton base.

NVM has had a presence in the south of England for some time and intends to build on its achievements there. Tim Levett remarks: “We have put together an interesting portfolio of biotech and IT investments based around the Thames Valley, and we think it makes a lot of sense to be based in Reading where there is an established and growing investment and corporate finance community. It is at the heart of a booming economy and we expect to see lots of opportunities in our specialist area of equity deals up to GBP5 million.”

Last month, NVM also announced the appointment of Colin Kidd as director. Kidd will be responsible for NVM’s established team of investment managers in Edinburgh and Newcastle and will focus on increasing the company’s investment rate in Scotland and the North of England. He offers broad investment experience, having spent three years at 3i in Edinburgh, working at a senior level in the investment team. He most recently worked as corporate and strategic manager for the Motherwell Bridge Group, where he was responsible for the IT consulting and software division, for which he negotiated acquisitions, partnership and distributor agreements in North America, mainland Europe and Australasia.

NVM currently has GBP105 million under management in three main funds a venture capital investment trust, Northern Investors Company and two venture capital trusts, Northern Venture Trust and Northern 2 VCT. The company expects to double funds under management and increase its investment rate significantly over the next two to three years. The company has also announced its plans to launch a new GBP20 million venture capital trust this month see fund news this issue. This is the first new issue from NVM since its link up with Edinburgh Fund Managers in June. The new trust will invest in AIM new issues, pre-flotation placings by unlisted companies, and later-stage venture capital investments.

Penta strengthens business

UK private equity investment house Penta Capital has announced two new senior appointments. Michael Scherpenhuijsen Rom has been appointed to the team as an assistant director following five years with the Bank of Scotland’s structured finance team where he specialised in cross border structured transactions, primarily MBO/MBIs, arranging senior and mezzanine debt for transactions across both the UK and continental Europe. Scherpenhuijsen’s most recent project was the development of Bank of Scotland’s structured finance operations in Germany and the Netherlands.

Paul Cassidy has joined the company as finance and compliance manager. He comes from Murray Johnstone, where he worked for five years. Prior to that, he worked as a business development executive with a Glasgow Development Agency Initiative.

Earlier this year, Penta appointed Craig Armour as a director. Armour had previously spent nine years at Noble Grossart, the independent merchant bank.

New finance director at inVentures Brent Goldsack has joined inVentures, the recently-established Internet investment and development company (see EVCJ September 2000, p16) as finance director. With over eight years’ international tax and structuring experience, his most recent position as a chartered accountant was at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. He has assisted a number of multinational and start-up companies with strategy, structuring and financing of e-business initiatives, including structuring spin-offs and reverse take-overs and advising on IPO-related issues. During his time at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, he also specialised in equity-linked products, structured finance and emerging market trading structures.

In his current position, Goldsack will lead inVentures’ corporate finance, accounting and treasury activities. He will also drive the development of inVentures’ partner companies by providing them with financial, tax and structuring advice.

New chairman at Strathdon Investments

David Tebbs has been appointed chairman of Strathdon Investments, after two years working with the company as advisor to the board and, more recently, as non-executive

director. Strathdon is a UK-based investment holding company investing in, acquiring and assisting young UK technology companies. Tebbs has 30 years’ experience as a director of telecoms, media and technology (TMT)

companies and contributes to a number of companies in the sector through non-executive and consulting assignments. He was formerly chairman of Druid Group and is now a non-executive director of FI Group. He is also a non-executive director of AIT Group and Pittards. A founder member of the Worshipful company of Information Technologists, he is also founder of the IT Non Executives Association (ITNEA).

New partner at Travers Smith Braithwaite

Chris Carroll has been appointed managing partner of UK-based law firm Travers Smith Braithwaite with effect from 1 January 2001. He will succeed Alasdair Douglas. Carroll is a corporate partner and has been with the company since the commencement of his articles there in 1978. Senior partner, Christopher Bell commented on the appointment, “It is gratifying to be presiding over the transfer of management from one firm hand to another. Alasdair did us a lot of good over a long stint as managing partner. We will get the same characteristics of feet on the ground’ leadership from Chris, albeit with a different style. We are looking forward to it.”

Gabb joins Advent Venture Partners

Advent Venture Partners, the technology-focused venture capital firm, has appointed Leslie Gabb as finance director. Gabb was previously managing director and European finance controller of Bermuda International Investment Management (Europe), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of Bermuda Limited, where he was responsible for the finance function of the division for nine years.

Addleshaw Booth & Co expands in the city

Addleshaw Booth & Co has appointed another partner to join its corporate finance practice in London. John Hiscock will focus on PE, working in the firm’s rapidly growing Cannon Street office, which has added six City-based partners this year. focus on private equity work in the firm’s Cannon Street office that has grown rapidly this year following the appointment of six city-based partners. Formerly with Dechert in London, Hiscock has broad corporate experience in the fields of takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, flotations and public-to- privates. As a solicitor with Lovell White Durrant, he also spent time on secondment in the Middle East and Hong Kong.

BancBoston Capital adds to team

BancBoston Capital, the private equity arm of FleetBoston Financial, has appointed Roberto Liguori and Paul Newsome to its European technology and communications group. Both assume responsibility for developing investment opportunities with European technology and communications companies. Liguori joins from CIBC World Markets’ telecoms and media team in London where he was responsible for originating, structuring and executing telecoms financing and advisory mandates.

Newsome was previously with Quartz Capital Partners, a pan-European investment bank specialising in technology and life sciences, where he worked on various public and private deals.

BancBoston Capital’s European technology and communications group now comprises a team of seven investment professionals and has a portfolio of 20 investments across Europe. The group is on target to invest between EURO75 million and EURO100 million by the end of 2000. Earlier this year, the division closed its Private Equity Portfolio Fund II, at its cap level of $300 million.